More Must Be Done to Develop Aviation Biofuels

Joanna Schroeder

Screen Shot 2013-06-28 at 9.59.22 AMThe commercial aviation industry has a clear path toward cleaner, more economical and more secure energy alternatives through the increased use of advanced biofuels developed in the Midwest, according to a report issued by the Midwest Aviation Sustainable Biofuels Initiative (MASBI). The report was produced following a yearlong analysis of the benefits that could be delivered from a robust sustainable aviation biofuels industry in the Midwest.

Noting the progress made in developing biofuels, including its use on more than 1,500 commercial aviation flights globally, the coalition agreed that more must be done to achieve the sustainable production of commercial-scale and cost-competitive advanced biofuels from sources such as non-food crops and waste products and issued several recommendations:

  1. Streamline the approval process for new biofuel production methods;
  2. Level the policy playing field for advanced biofuels with the conventional petroleum industry;
  3. Tailor agriculture products such as oil-seed crops for jet-fuel production;
  4. Improve biofuel production through agricultural innovation; and
  5. Pursue deal structures that balance risk and reward for early adopters of technology.

MASBI Executive Committee“We’ve been developing a new industry – one that has the ability to reduce carbon emissions, create green jobs, drive innovation in clean technology and bolster the successful future of the airline industry which is vital to communities all around the world,” said Jimmy Samartzis, managing director of global environmental affairs and sustainability for United Airlines. “We need to focus on this today, so that we can have these options tomorrow as we build a more sustainable future.”

Expanding the availability of sustainable aviation biofuels will have clear business benefits for the airline industry and the broader Midwest economy. From 1990 to 2012, fuel costs increased by 574 percent and are now the single largest expense for commercial aviation, accounting for up to 40 percent of an airline’s operating budget. Commercial aviation spends $6.3 billion on jet fuel a year for flights originating in the Midwest. MASBI estimates that replacing five percent of petroleum jet fuel in the Midwest with aviation biofuel would create more than 3,600 jobs and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by 700,000 tons.

“The Midwest can be a leader in this effort because it boasts the experience, technological innovation, and resources to do so,” said Samartzis. “The impact of MASBI goes well beyond the Midwest and influences the development of the advanced biofuels industry nationally and globally.”

advanced biofuels, aviation biofuels

DF Cast: Algae Backers’ Beef with DOE

John Davis

Backers of algae, especially for biofuel production, say while the Department of Energy provides millions for universities to do research through the DOE Biomass Program, commercial enterprises are being left by the wayside. And they say that isn’t fair, and after 60 years of looking at the green microbes, researchers have developed nothing.

In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we talk with Barry Cohen, the Executive Director at the National Algae Association, about how the commercial side of his industry is getting shut out, and he argues if they had just 10 percent of the money that universities get, we would have a commercialized algae-based biofuel within a year.

It’s a pretty interesting conversation, and you can listen to it here: Domestic Fuel Cast - Algae's Beef with DOE

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

algae, Audio, biofuels, Domestic Fuel Cast, Research

Brazil’s First Biodiesel Export Headed to EU

John Davis

BSBIOS1The first batch of Brazilian biodiesel for export is headed for the European Union. BSBIOS announced that its first load of 22 tons of biodiesel is on a ship headed for The Netherlands.

The CEO of BSBIOS, Erasmo Carlos Battistella, emphasizes that this is a great step towards the market opening. “There are many difficulties, with relation to taxes mainly, and cost Brazil that make negotiations difficult with the European market. But this is an important advance we need to fulfill to demonstrate that Brazil can also export biodiesel,” he said.

Since March 6th, 2008, when BSBIOS became the first company in Brazil to receive authorization from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels – ANP to export biodiesel, the company waited for the moment to achieve this goal. “BSBIOS has tried to make partnerships official to export biofuel,” asserted Battistella.

The company’s operation director says this is just the first shipment of what they hope is an expanding market.

Biodiesel, International

Kansas Farmer Recognized for Biodiesel Board Work

John Davis

kraus1A Kansas farmer has been recognized by the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) for his work for the biodiesel industry. The Kansas Soybean Commission announced that their primary representative on the NBB for the past 12 years, Harold Kraus from Hays, picked up NBB’s Friend of Biodiesel award during a membership meeting in Washington, D.C.:

“Harold has been a tremendous advocate for the biodiesel industry who will definitely be missed,” NBB CEO Joe Jobe said. “The industry has grown out of infancy to a billion-gallon industry due in large part to the efforts of champions like Mr. Kraus.”

“Any time your peers pat you on the back you have to feel better,” Kraus said. “When I came on board, there were 55 members. Now, we’re in the hundreds. We’ve got a good number of people, and they’re doing their job.”

“From the start, the soybean checkoff has played a major role in developing the U.S. biodiesel industry, and soybean farmers like Harold have invested a lot of time, energy and resources into bringing American-made, high-performing biodiesel to the marketplace,” said Dennis Hupe, KSC director of field services. “The award never can express fully the thanks that Harold deserves for his dedication to the development of the biodiesel industry.”

Kraus is retiring from his position on the board.

Biodiesel, NBB, Soybeans

Open Fuel Standard Introduced in House

Cindy Zimmerman

engel-rfs-hearingCongressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) this week introduced the Open Fuel Standard Act (H.R. 2493) in the House, legislation which would require 30 percent of new automobiles in 2016, 50 percent in 2017, and 50 percent in each subsequent year, to operate on non-petroleum fuels in addition to or instead of petroleum-based fuels.

“This could include ethanol, methanol, natural gas, electricity, biodiesel, hydrogen or a new technology,” said Rep. Engel, who has sponsored the bill in previous sessions of Congress, during yesterday’s hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standard, saying that he believes the legislation would complement the RFS. “It would empower consumers to make a choice about which fuel is best for them.”

Engel says he got the idea for the legislation during a visit to Brazil many years ago when he noticed the variety of fuel choices consumers had. “If it works in Brazil, it can work here if we wish it to work,” he said. Rep. Eliot Engel

“This is all about choice,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen in support of the bill. “Consumers want a choice other than petroleum. A recent poll showed that 76 percent of Americans wanted manufacturers to produce vehicles that run on fuels other than oil. The goal here is to offer consumers the most cost effective and clean energy choice possible.”

The bill also features original co-sponsors Reps. Steve Israel (D-NY-03), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA-13), Tom Cole (R-OK-04), Collin Peterson (D-MN-07) and Del. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam).

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, RFA

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

    • BioEnergyBytesDFPurified Renewable Energy has contracted R1 Group to sell a Katzen Technology corn-based, dry mill, fuel-grade ethanol production facility with a nameplate capacity of 18 million gallons per year, in Buffalo Lake, MN. The facility will be sold at a §363 bankruptcy auction on August 8, 2013. Qualified bids, including a $125,000 deposit, are due July 31, 2013.
    • ShoEi Foods has selected Cenergy Power to engineer and construct a 864 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system. The solar power system will be used to offset local energy demand at their walnut processing facility in Marysville, CA.
    • In an effort to accelerate the development of renewable energy resources, Hawaiian Electric Company has requested permission to negotiate with five proposed projects that could quickly provide low-cost electricity for Oahu. If approved the solar and wind projects will have 20-year power purchase agreements directly with Hawaiian Electric.
    • MTS Systems Corporation is collaborating with GE Power Conversion to supply a simulation system to RWTH Aachen University in Aachen, German, for its Center for Wind Power Drives. The equipment will be used to study and design wind turbines.
    • Dominion Virginia Power is accepting online applications for its Solar Purchase Program that will help eligible customers offset the cost of adding solar power to their homes and properties.
Bioenergy Bytes

Biofuel Industry Responds to RFS Hearing

Joanna Schroeder

Have you heard the recent saying, “You need to check yourself before you wreck yourself”? It seems to apply to the recent hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) held by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power. The hearings are part of the RFS evaluation program that also includes a series of white papers. Left to their own device, the committee is going to “wreck” the RFS.

The hearing included no representation from the biofuels industry but they responded in full force after its conclusion.

Growth_Energy_logo-1“Today’s testimony by USDA Chief Economist Joseph Glauber, validates what we in the biofuels industry have been saying since the RFS was enacted – that the production of biofuels does not have any substantive correlation with the rising cost of food prices,” said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy.

“If the committee is truly interested in the culprits behind rising food prices they should look no further than oil companies. Today’s testimony comes on the heels of a recent study by the World Bank, which outlined how crude oil prices are responsible for 50 percent of the increase in food prices since 2004,” Buis continued. “Additionally, large food corporations, like oil companies are recording near record profits, while trying to use the RFS as a scapegoat as they increase prices at their own discretion at the pump and grocery store at the expense of the American consumer.”

Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Coalition noted that several times during the hearing, members of the committee said “times have changed” since the passage of the RFS in 2007, and that the U.S. no longer has a foreign oil dependence problem.Read More

advanced biofuels, AEC, biofuels, Ethanol, Growth Energy, RFS

Free Webinar on New RFS2 NPRM

Joanna Schroeder

The EPA has released a new Notice of Proposed Rule Making: RFS Pathways II and Technical Amendments to the RFS2 Standards. EcoEngineers is offering a FREE webinar on July 10, 2013 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm central standard time (CST).

EcoEngineers LogoSome of the proposed changes include:

  • New penalties for failure to meet certain RFS reporting deadlines.
  • Additional requirements for foreign renewable fuel producers and importers who generate RINs.
  • New pathway for “advanced butanol.”
  • New pathways for cellulosic diesel/naphtha and renewable electricity from landfill biogas.
  • Landfill biogas CNG/LNG to qualify for cellulosic RINs and clarification of what constitutes cellulosic feedstock and amendment to who qualifies as RIN generator for biogas.
  • Expansion of qualified feedstock for anaerobic digestors.
  • Expansion of RVP standards for gasoline.

During the free webinar you’ll find out what the EPA’s proposed RFS2 amendments mean for the renewable fuel industry and RIN markets. An interactive Q&A period will follow the presentations. Click here to register.

biofuels, Education, RINS

REG Restarts Texas Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

REG New Boston1Biodiesel-producing giant Renewable Energy Group (REG) restarted an idled biodiesel plant in Texas. According to Biodiesel Magazine, the Iowa-based green energy producer re-opened the former North Texas Bio Energy, a commercial scale biodiesel production facility near New Boston, Texas, acquired by REG in October 2012:

[N]ow named REG New Boston, [the plant] employs 25 people and can produce 15 MMgy of biodiesel from recycled fats, oils and greases. The company scheduled a ribbon-cutting ceremony for June 28.

REG says the facility was idle for about four years and underwent some repairs and minor upgrades before the new start-up. The company also points out that besides the 25 workers at the plant, there will be indirect jobs, including truck drivers for the hundreds of inbound and outbound trucks that will channel through the plant each month.

Biodiesel, REG

Groups React to FAO Biofuels Study

Joanna Schroeder

Emotions are mixed regarding the findings in a recent report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that was released in Rome during a meeting with ambassadors. The report found that biofuel from crops has a significant and direct impact on food prices and food availability. In response, ActionAid said the report shows how Europe’s biofuel targets are driving up food prices and increasing hunger among the world’s poorest people.

Screen Shot 2013-06-27 at 8.35.14 AMThe report comes several weeks before a final decision is made by the Environment Committee, part of the European Commission, on how much fuel will be allowed to be made from feedstocks used to produce food.

“It is a wake-up call to the EU to get its house in order on food and fuel. This means some hard work ahead for MEPs and Member States who are working on redefining EU biofuels policy,” said Anders Dahlbeck, ActionAid’s biofuels policy advisor. “However as we speak, the biofuels industry is lobbying hard against new proposals before the Parliament and Council to limit the use of food crops for biofuels. MEPs and member states must not bow to industry pressure – they must end the use of food for fuel.”

The global biofuels industry has in fact taken issue with the report and the Global Renewable Fuels Association (GRFA) says that there are several methodological and factual errors in the report including the omission of key co-products in calculating the net benefits of biofuels; the overly prescriptive policy recommendations; and the inclusion of unproven land use methodologies. It should be noted that the EU biofuels policy that is under review specifically does not take in to account indirect land use in its calculations.Read More

Agribusiness, biofuels, corn, food and fuel, Indirect Land Use